Hasta La Gadget!

If you love nothing more than good data visualization, Google’s latest Sheets update will be right up your alley. The company has begun rolling out an upgrade to the app’s Gemini side panel, a feature it introduced this past summer, to give its AI agent the ability to generate more in-depth insights about the data in your spreadsheets.

Tapping the new “Analyze for insights” shortcut in Sheets will prompt Gemini to offer insights on “contextual trends, patterns, and correlations between different variables in your data,” according to Google. The agent will also create charts based on your data, which you can insert as static images in your document. Depending on the complexity of the prompt, Gemini will use Python code to complete the request.

Google

There are a few notable limitations to the feature’s current implementation. For instance, Google notes that once you’ve inserted a chart it cannot be modified. Additionally, any charts Gemini generates won’t be directly linked to your data, so they won’t automatically update after you make changes.

Separately, Google recommends users be as specific as possible when prompting Gemini to provide data insights. “For the most accurate results, ensure your data is in a consistent format, with clear headers and no missing values,” the company adds.

You can use the updated Gemini side panel in Sheets if you pay for Google One AI Premium, or if your company is a Business or Enterprise Workspace customer with a Standard or Plus plan. Anyone with a Gemini Education, Gemini Education Premium, Gemini Business or Gemini Enterprise add-on will also receive access. Google expects to complete the rollout of this feature by February 20, so you might not see in your version of Sheets right away.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/gemini-can-now-do-more-complex-data-analysis-in-google-sheets-191218214.html?src=rss

NVIDIA just warned consumers that it might be pretty difficult for gamers to get their hands on its upcoming high-end RTX 5090 and 5080 graphics cards. The company says it expects “significant demand” for the cards and that “stock-outs may happen.” The term “stock-out” is business speak for “we ran out of the thing you want.”

The official launch is January 30, so many gamers could find themselves out of luck on release day. Several distributors have revealed they won’t even have the cards on January 30. MSI says it won’t be selling the GPUs in the US until February 6 and PC maker PowerGPU told its customers that availability “will be the worst” for the “first three months.”

This is a global issue. VideoCardz has reported that Korea likely won’t see shipments until mid-February and the UK retailer Overclockers has posted that it only has “single-digit” numbers of RTX 5090s in stock. The retailer does, however, have slightly more 5080s in stock. 

Gizmodo has reported that folks are already camping out in the cold for the expensive cards. NVIDIA, for its part, has stated that its “shipping more stock to retail every day to help get GPUs into the hands of gamers.” We’ll see how that goes. In any event, we have compiled some tips to help folks snag one of these cards.

If you pay attention to NVIDIA product launches, this news should come as no surprise. The same thing happened with the 40 series. There was high demand and limited initial availability. It took months until gamers could cruise online and purchase one of the latest graphics cards. The 30 series cards were also difficult to find at launch, due to the pandemic and bitcoin mining.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/nvidia-says-itll-likely-run-out-of-rtx-5090-and-5080-cards-due-to-significant-demand-172030639.html?src=rss

Comcast has announced new technology for ultra-low lag Internet on its Xfinity service. According to the company’s release, users of select products and software from its partners will experience less delay in situations with bi-directional traffic. The first wave of supported applications include select games from Valve’s Steam platform, GeForce Now from NVIDIA, select apps on mixed reality headsets from Meta, and FaceTime on Apple hardware.

The reduction in latency comes from the Internet Engineering Task Force’s L4S open standard. The tech is complex — here’s a whitepaper on L4S if you’re interested — but broadly if a packet traveling between your device and the server experiences congestion, it will report that on arrival, which can improve future packets’ journeys.

A rep from Comcast told Engadget that the products from Apple, Meta, NVIDIA and Valve are the first to support the tech because they were initial partners for testing this low-latency connectivity. Other developers can choose to take advantage of the open standard technology once Comcast has fully rolled out the low lag option and it will be available to all Xfinity customers then. Atlanta, Chicago, Colorado Springs, Philadelphia, Rockville (Maryland) and San Francisco are among the first cities to receive the low latency tech. Comcast said in its release that it plans to deploy to additional locations in the coming months.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/comcast-unveils-ultra-low-lag-internet-connection-150034901.html?src=rss

China’s DeepSeek AI has already caught the eye of a data protection watchdog, shortly after it went viral and became the top-rated free app on Apple’s App Store in the US and other regions. As TechCrunch reports, Garante, or the Italian Data Protection Authority, has written DeepSeek to ask for information about the AI chatbot due to the “possible risk for the data of millions of people in Italy.” The watchdog is in charge of monitoring the application of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rules in the country. 

In an announcement about the information request on its website, Garante said it contacted both the Hangzhou and the Beijing DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence offices to ask them what kind of personal data the AI chatbot collects. It also asked them to clarify their purposes for the data they collect and whether the information they gather is stored on servers physically located in China. In its privacy policy, DeepSeek admitted that it transfers personal information of the country where the user lives and that it keeps them “in secure servers located in the People’s Republic of China.” However, it said that the service will “do so in accordance with the requirements of applicable data protection laws.”

In addition, Garante is asking DeepSeek what type of information is used to train its AI system. And, in case web scraping is involved, it wants the service to clarify how both registered and non-registered users are informed about the processing of their data. Notably, Bloomberg has published a report that Microsoft and OpenAI are already investigating whether DeepSeek took OpenAI data and possibly used it for training. Apparently, a group of users exfiltrated a large amount of data using OpenAI’s API back in the fall of 2024, and Microsoft’s security researchers reportedly believe that they have a connection to DeepSeek. 

The chatbot service now has 20 days to respond to Garante’s request. In the US, Reuters said authorities have started looking into the national security implications of the China-based AI chatbot.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/chinas-deepseek-ai-hit-by-information-request-from-italys-data-protection-watchdog-133025226.html?src=rss

If you own a Garmin GPS watch, you may want to power it down for a while. Users on Reddit and Garmin’s forums (via The Verge) report that a botched software update is leaving the wearables in a “blue triangle” boot loop, putting them out of commission until further notice.

In a statement to Engadget, Garmin acknowledged the issue. “We are aware of an issue causing some devices to be stuck on the start-up screen or a blue triangle.” The company points readers to its support webpage for updates.

A pinned message from the company on its forums details a possible fix that some users claim is only temporary. “We are aware of an issue causing some devices to be stuck on the start up screen or a blue triangle,” the message reads. “To resolve this, press and hold the power button until the device turns off, then power it back on, and sync with the Garmin Connect app or Garmin Express.” 

Garmin

Some crafty Redditors claim to have traced the issue to a file related to GPS functionality. Although some reported that following Garmin’s reset instructions worked, others said it was only temporary, with the issue returning later. The problem appears to affect various models, including the Forerunner, Venu, Fenix, Vivoactive and Epix lines.

If your Garmin smartwatch has no problems (… so far), you may save yourself a headache by powering it down and waiting for an official solution from Garmin. If you’ve encountered the issue and want to roll the dice, this Reddit thread includes some unofficial — and untested by Engadget — fixes and workarounds.

Update, January 28, 2025, 3:40PM ET: This story has been updated to add a statement from Garmin.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/some-garmin-gps-watches-are-stuck-in-a-blue-triangle-boot-loop-193920555.html?src=rss